More women are opting for abortions because they can’t afford to provide for another baby, according to findings from a survey of doctors.

According to an article on the Telegraph, family doctors in the UK had noted a spike in women requesting abortions because they simply couldn’t afford another child. The doctors also noted a delay in women starting families and a rise in people with mental health problems during the recession.

Richard Kunzmann, research manager at Insight Research Group and who lead the study, noted that middle class women were especially affected. 

The survey of 300 doctors found that more than three quarters said people have also abandoned healthy lifestyles because of the recession and its financial implications.

Patients were ending their gym contracts and cancelling their sporting activities to save an extra penny, according to almost two-thirds of the doctors.

Doctors also reported an increase anxiety, stomach and digestive problems, as well as alcohol abuse.

More than 230 out of the 300 doctors surveyed said they believed anxiety disorders amongst men had the biggest increase. These anxiety disorders included obsessive compulsive disorder, anxiety and panic attacks.

While half of the GPs said the recession had positively led to more people kicking their smoking habit, they also said there seemed to be a worrying swell of alcohol abuse.

Two-thirds believed that the stress of a strained economy was to blame for the surge of new cases of mental health disorders.

The findings also showed that a third of the GPs said women were delaying starting a family until their financial situation had improved while a fifth said they noticed an increase in women asking for abortions over financial fears.

"Ultimately, motherhood is something we take extremely seriously, and many women want to wait until their circumstances are right," Ann Furedi, an expert in pregnancy health in the UK.